Mine-skip



D. F. LEPLEY.

' MINE SKIP. APPLICATION FILED JULY 12. 1920.

Patented May 31,1921.

2 SHEETS SHEET I.

D. F. LEPLEY.

MINE SKIP. APPLICATION FILED IULY I2, I920. 1,379,869. Patented May 31,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHE]: 2.

DANIEL n. LEPLEY, or coNNELnsvILnE, PENNSYLVANIA.

MINE-SKIP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 12, 1920. Serial No. 395,589.

To all whomz't may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL F. Ln LEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Connellsville, in the county of Fayette and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Mine-Skip, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to skip hoists for mines, one of its objects being to provide a combined platform cage and bottom discharge. skip.

It has been found in the development of mines having very large tonnage, that considerable difiiculty is experienced in the delivery of coal from the mine. The carrying of materials such as supplies, machinery, etc., into the mine, the carrying of men to and from their work in the mine, etc, has been very difficult where, during the initial stages of development, only a single shaft is employed. It is often the case that operators desire and, in fact, find it necessary, to

equip a large. supply shaft through which they intend to develop their mines to a comparatively large tonnage, while they are opening up and equipping their large main hoist shaft and the extensive tipple used in connection therewith. This requires that all work necessary in connection with a large mine must be handled through the supply,

shaft and, in many cases, involves the handling of from three hundred to seven hundred men a day, the hoisting of from two thousand to three thousand tons of coal a day, all of the rock and slate that must be taken out of the mine, all of the material that must be taken into the mine, in addition to the handling of all of the mine cars which go in and those which must come out for repair. It is also necessary to handle all of the machinery such as coal mining and loading and hauling machinery to betaken into and out of themine from time to time for repairs and the like. Thus the hoist problem under conditions such as mentioned has developed into one which cannot be met properly because it is impossible to handle men and material with an ordinary skip hoist. Furthermore a self dumping cage for dumping cars at the top is not practical because, owing to the adoption of solid end cars without end gates, it is necessary that .all kinds as well all coal and other materialsbe dumped at PatentedMay 31,1921.

the shaft bottom over a rotary dump because they cannot be successfully dumped with a self dumping cage on top. r In view of the conditions above mentioned it is an object of the present invention to provide a combination platform cage and bottom discharge skip whereby materials of as passengers can be carried in the single supply shaft without requlring different kinds of cages for skips, it being possible by the adoption of this combination cage skip to materially expedite the work in the development of the mine. A. still further object is to provide a combinationstructure in which the material carrying skip is adapted to be filled through a trap door which, when closed, constitutes a portion of the platform part of the cage, so as to avoid an excessive length of the skip and a corresponding depth of shaft and height of tipple, both of which materially to the cost of the shaft ple structure. Y

A further object is to provide askip so constructed as to accurately balance, so as to prevent binding of the device upon the guide rails in the shaft.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the comand tipbination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter deadd very invention shown can be made without de- 3 parting from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings Figurel is a-side elevation of the device. Fig. 2 is a section therethrough. Referring to the figures bycharacters of reference 1 designates the frame of the .combined cage and skip, there being secured in the upper portion of this frame a platform 2 provided with sides 3 and which platform has a stationary floor section 4 and a movable floor section 5, the latter being hinged as at'6 to the section 4. i

Arranged under the platform is a bottom the lower end of the dump skip the upper end of which is arranged directly under the feed opening 7 formed by lifting the trap door 5. This skip is in the form of a downwardly extending hopper the bottom of which is obliquely disposed relative to the plane of the frame 1. The bottom of this hopper or skip has been indicated at 8, its upper end being in the same vertical plane with one end of the platform 2 while its lower end is in approxi-' mately the same vertical plane with the opposite end of the platform. The top of the hopper, or skip 8 has been indicated at 9 and the upper end of this top is arranged at the hinged end of the trap door 5 while its lower end is in vertical alinement with bottom 8 but is spaced therefrom to form a discharge opening 10 Suitable braces 11 connect the lower portion of the hopper or skip to the platform 2 and the capacity of the upper and lower portions of the hopper or skip is such that when the skip is properly filled through the opening 7, the load will be practically evenly balanced at opposite sides of the center of the combined cage and skip.

A delivery chute or connected to the lower end spout 12 is hingedly of the bottom ;8

and its pointof connection has been indicated at 13. This spout or chute has arcuate wings 14 at the sides thereof and is adapted either to assume a vertical position across the opening 10,.as shown in Fig. 1, thus to prevent the discharge of material from the skip, or a downwardly and outwardly inclined position as shown in Fig. 2 with the inner portion of the spout or chute bearing upwardly against the bottom 8 whereby material will be directed from the skip into a suitable receiving structure indicated gen erally at S.

Brackets 15 are extended downwardly from the bottom 8 of the skip and are connected by a pivot rod 16 on which are mounted bell cranks 17 The long arms of these bell cranks are connected by links 18 to the back end portion of the spout or chute 12. The other arms of the bell cranks carry rollers 19 adapted to enter channeled guide rails 20 arranged at the sides of the mine shaft at the points where the load is to be discharged.

It is to be understood that under ordinary conditions the spout or chute 12 is closed as shown in Fig. 1 and at this time the point of connection between the links 18 and the bell cranks 17 .is below the dead center so that the spout is held securely in closed position. When the skip rises to the point where the material is to be discharged, the rollers 19 enter the channeled guide rails and are deflected thereby so as to cause the bell cranks to swing relative to the skip and bring the spout or chute 12 to delivering position as shown in Fig. 2, and as set forth in Patent No. 1304:,784 issued to me on May 27, 1919.

Obviously when it is desired to load the skip with coal or other material the trap door 5 is elevated as shown in Fig. 2 so that the material can thus be delivered readily from spouts supplied by a rotary dump or the like. After the skip has been filled the trap door 5 can be lowered and will form part of the platform 4 so that the passengers or materials of different kinds can thus be placed on the platform and elevated while coal or other material is being elevated in the hopper or skip under the platform. Obviously by providing a combination structure such as described the development of a mine through a single supply shaft will be greatly expedited.

What is claimed is:

1. A device of the class described including a platform having a hinged floor section, a load holding skip portion below the platform, said fioor section constituting a cover for the inlet end of the skip portion, and a combined closure and delivering chute at the discharge end of said skip portion.

2. A device of the class described including a frame, an upper platform portion mounted in the frame, a lower downwardly inclined skip portion within the frame, the upper and lower ends of the skip portion being substantially in. vertical alinement with the respective end portions of the platform, said platform having a movable floor section constituting a closure for the skip portion, and a combined closure and delivextending from the platform, said skip portion being proportioned to hold a balanced load within the frame, and a movable floor section of the platform constituting a closure for the skip portion.

4t. In a device of the class described the combination with a frame, of a platform secured therein, a skip inclined downwardly, under and from one end portion of the platform, the lower end of said skip portion being substantially in vertical alinement with the other end of the platform, said skip being so proportioned as to be substantially balanced when filled, a combined closure and delivery chute movably connected to the lower open endv of the skip, and a movable door constituting a closure for the top of the skip and a portion of the floor of the platform.

5. A device of the class described including a platform having an opening in one end portion thereof, a downwardly inclined skip fixedly connected to the bottom of the platform v and. having its upper end secured to one end portion thereof and its lower end In testimony that I claim the foregoing as open and substantially in line with the other my own, I have hereto aflixed my slgnature end of the platform, a closure for the openin the presence of two witnesses.

ing in the platform and constituting a sec- DANIEL F. LEPLEY. tion of the platform floor, and a combined Witnesses:

closure and delivery chute movably con- W. H. S'OISSON,

nected to the lower open end of the skip. CHAS. L. BAER. 

